


Unannounced Surprise

by Lover_of_Fairy_Tails



Series: My AFTG Canon Universe Continuing Fics [5]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluffy Ending, M/M, Neil Josten Is an Idiot, Oblivious Neil Josten, POV Andrew Minyard, Post-Canon, one sided angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2019-04-19 14:19:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14239107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lover_of_Fairy_Tails/pseuds/Lover_of_Fairy_Tails
Summary: This takes place the first year that Neil is a pro athlete.He plays for the Boston Rebels, while Andrew lives and plays in Denver.Andrew decides to make an unannounced trip to visit Neil. Things do not go as smoothly as he thinks they willWith Neil Josten involved when do they ever.





	1. Chapter 1

Winter was in full swing in America’s northeast. A fact which caused Andrew’s hate for this part of the country to grow even more. He was already dealing with the snow and cold at home in Denver why couldn’t Neil have signed with a team somewhere warmer, instead of Boson.

It was around midnight on Friday when Andrew pulled in the parking lot outside of Neil’s apartment complex. Earlier in the evening, his team the Colorado Boulders had played against the New Hampshire Garnets, and while all of his other teammates and coaches had boarded the plane back to Colorado Andrew had picked up a rental car and driven down to Boston.

He bundled his jacket tighter around his body, trying to retain some of the heat from his hour-long drive, as he stepped out of the car and into the wind and snow. He reached back in for his duffel he had packed for the weekend, then slammed the door shut and hurriedly made his way to the stairs that lead to Neil’s door.

He pulled out the keys he had buried in his jacket pocket, and slide the one for Neil’s apartment into the lock. That summer, after Neil had graduated from Palmetto, Andrew had stayed with him in Boston until he had to return to Denver to start practicing for the upcoming season. On the day he flew back Neil had placed a copy of his apartment key in Andrew’s hand and made sure he knew that he would always be welcomed and wanted there. Just as Andrew had done with him the year before in Denver.

Inside he expected to find Neil already asleep or more likely curled up on his sofa watching reruns of the Exy games from earlier today. Andrew already knew from his teammate’s chattering that Kevin’s team beat Matt’s and that Neil’s team decimated their opponent. He was just about to click the lock open when Neil’s voice carrying through the door caused him to stop short.

“Hey! What are you doing out here?”

For one confusing second, Andrew thought that Neil was speaking to him, but that was ridiculous. Neil had no idea that Andrew was coming down for the weekend, and if he had heard someone trying to unlock his door at midnight a friendly greeting would be the last thing he would’ve given them. Which meant Neil must be speaking to someone already inside.

Even though he was already half frozen he decided to wait and listen to see if he could determine who Neil was talking to before opening the door. Neil hadn’t mentioned anyone being at his place in their short text exchange from after the game, but it was always possible that one of the other foxes has dropped by to visit him. They tended to do that a lot, it was why Neil felt the need to get a two bedroom apartment. A smaller chance was that it was one of his teammates, although Andrew highly doubted it because Neil hadn’t seemed to be making friends with any of them.

That was actually one of the reasons Andrew was here. It had been a year and a half since Neil had started living without any of the original foxes around. At least last year Neil had Robin, Abby, and Wymack, but this year Neil was completely alone. It was the first time since Millport that he hadn’t had someone close by that he trusted, and he was not handling it well. To say the least Neil was lonely.

Instead of hearing another person he heard Neil again, “What are you doing? You know you are not supposed to be sitting up there.”

Andrew was a little caught off guard at how playful Neil’s tone was. It definitely ruled out any of his teammates, since he would never talk to them in that way. It also ruled out most of the foxes, since his tone almost sounded flirty.

“You are being naughty tonight!”

Andrew’s hand clenched painfully around the doorknob at that. Who the fuck was Neil talking to? Andrew almost turned around, got back in his shitty rental, and drove away; because he felt that if he walked into that apartment right now he might end up stabbing someone.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Neil drawled out. “I know you’re cute, but I’m not letting you get away with this tonight.”

That was it, that was his breaking point. Those words combined with that tone had Andrew furiously turning the knob and slamming the door open. To hell with caring about jail time, he needed to know who the fuck Neil was talking to.

It took Neil about two seconds to come skidding around the corner. He had come from the direction of the kitchen with a knife in hand, and a look in his eye that was somewhere between fear and that icy gaze he wore with his father’s smile.

The moment his eyes caught sight of Andrew the iciness left them, and his entire body relaxed. “Andrew! What are you doing here?” He sounded surprised, which made sense because he did not know he was coming. Andrew did note that he sounded happy surprised and not guilty surprised. Which is what he would expect from someone who was talking like that to someone who wasn’t his partner of five years.

Andrew waited a moment before saying anything, listening for other movements coming from inside. When he heard nothing else he asked, “Who were you talking to?”

Neil jolted slightly. “You heard me through the door?” He seemed to be trying to sound more casual than he clearly felt. His spine was rigid and his shoulders were tense.

“Yes Neil, I heard your little conversation.” Andrew sounded downright venomous, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. “Now tell me who you were talking to.”

Neil stared for a long moment jaw clenching and unclenching as he seemed to be having an internal debate with himself. Finally, he exhaled a long breath and his shoulders sagged in defeat, “I was planning on telling you Andrew.”

Andrew was unsure if Neil continued to speak because all he could hear now was the blood rushing in his ears and his own thoughts going a mile a minute. This could not be happening. He did not open himself up again, just to be hurt one last time. And this would be the last time, there would be no coming back from this. Neil was not supposed to move off to another city, join a pro team, and start fucking around.

Andrew could feel himself shutting down, closing off for good. Which was an odd sensation since it was coinciding with a murderous rage he felt towards whoever Neil had in this apartment.

He tensed when he noticed Neil walking towards him. It has been years since he had tensed at such a simple touch from Neil, but right now his whole body was rejecting the idea. Neil never made contact with him though, instead he reached around him and closed the door.

Neil obviously noticed Andrew’s aversion, since he immediately stepped out of his space and gave him a searching look. “Are you okay?”

Andrew couldn’t bring himself to even start thinking of how to answer that question. At his prolonged silence Neil continued, “I asked you to close the door twice. Are you having a bad day?”

What the fuck kind of question was that. Where did Neil get off pretending like he gave a shit about Andrew right now? Of course he was having a bad day. He just found out that his so-called pipe dream turned out to be exactly that.

Andrew wanted answers, and he wanted them now. Since he was pretty sure Neil never actually answered his question Andrew unclenched his jaw long enough to ask one more time, “Who were you talking to?”

Neil’s head tilted questioningly at Andrew’s harsh tone. He searched his face again, but Andrew knew it betrayed nothing at the moment. Finally, Neil looked over his shoulder down his hallway. Clearly not finding whatever it was he was looking for he turned back to Andrew, “Follow me. I think you scared him back into the bedroom whenever you slammed the door open.”

Andrew didn’t really catch the whole sentence. All his brain focused on was the ‘him’ and ‘bedroom’ part, and how Boston P.D. was going to have an unidentifiable male corpse on their hands soon.

Neil turned around and started walking to his bedroom, and the movement jolted Andrew into action. He shouldered past Neil, down the hall, and into the room first. The door was already open, so Andrew flicked the light on and searched the room.

He found nothing.

The room was completely empty besides Neil’s furniture. Andrew was confused for a second before he noticed the bathroom door slightly ajar. So he stormed over and slammed it open, and found that room completely empty also.

He turned back to find Neil leaning against his bedroom door with his arms crossed across his chest and an equally confused look on his face. “Why do you keep slamming all of my doors open?” He huffed out a loud breath. “I already told you that you scared him once doing that.”

His casual attitude and words were not adding up. How could Neil stand there and claim so calmly that he has somebody else in his bedroom?

Andrew chose to ignore Neil’s questioning look and instead stared right back at him hoping he would bend first and clear up this situation. After a minute of them locked in a staring contest which Neil refused to back down, Andrew lost his patience and managed to grind out, “Where is he?”

Neil huffed again, “Andrew, you’re making a bigger deal of this than you need to.”

Andrew couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of the junkie’s mouth. If Neil honestly believed that him sleeping around with some other man was not a big fucking deal, then he didn’t know Andrew very well. Or maybe it was Andrew that didn’t know Neil as well as he thought. 

Finally, Neil un-crossed his arms, dropped down to his knees, and started to crawl towards his bed. “He usually hides under the bed whenever he gets scared.”

That was odd. Who the fuck hides under a bed when they’re scared. Which yes whoever it was should be scared, because Andrew was contemplating homicide again. But hiding under a bed was not something a human adult should be doing over a slammed door.

His thoughts came to a screeching halt whenever he heard a small almost squeaking like sound then Neil respond to that sound by cooing out, “It’s okay. You can come out now. He didn’t mean to scare you by slamming the door, he is just in a bad mood today.” Then added in a much sassier, but still placating tone, “Probably because his team lost.”

Andrew stood frozen willing his brain to make sense out of everything that was happening. When he came up still blank and confused he decided to continue to listen to Neil try to coax whatever was under the bed out for a few moments longer.

To say that when Andrew watched Neil pop out from under the bed with a small ball of fluff in his hands was not what he was expecting to happen at all would be have been an understatement

Andrew stared blankly at Neil, as Neil stared down at the small kitten he was softly petting in his arms. Because yes that noise he heard earlier was a meow.

He stood frozen and staring for a second longer before the tiny purring noise startled him into moving. He took a few steps forward to cover the short distance between Neil and himself and looked down at the cat currently being cradled in his arms.

“That’s a cat,” he stated obviously, and he kind of hated how dumbfounded he sounded. Usually when he stated the obvious he did it sarcastically, but right now his brain was trying to rework everything he had heard Neil say and do since he arrived. 

Neil looked up at him confusion still written all over his face. “Of course it’s a cat. What else would it be?”

Andrew continued to blankly stare at Neil, hoping that he would come to that conclusion on his own. But time dragged on as Neil continued to just stare up at him. Andrew almost forgot how oblivious Neil could be when it came to certain things.

Suddenly he felt the culmination of all of his exhaustion from today hit him. First, he had flown from Denver to New Hampshire, played a stupid Exy game, driven an hour here, then gone through the emotional ringer of thinking Neil was cheating on him. 

He really wished he was in bed right now, or sitting on the sofa with a tub of ice cream and Neil lounged out beside him watching Exy highlights. Since neither of those were really an option he chose the next best one. He walked to the wall behind Neil, placed his back against it, and slide down.

He sat there for a moment rubbing at his eyes before finally saying, “I heard you telling him he was being naughty.”

Neil turned so that he was sitting crossed legged facing Andrew now, with the cat still in his lap. “He was being naughty. I keep telling him he isn’t allowed on the counter, but he keeps jumping up there anyway.”

Andrew released a long-suffering sigh that came with the territory of being in a relationship with Neil Josten. He stopped rubbing his eyes and focused on Neil’s icy blue ones hoping that he would finally get him to understand. “All I could hear through the door was you telling someone they are naughty and cute.”

Neil’s lips quirked up into a small smile. “He was being cute, he thinks he can get away with stuff that way....”

He trailed off as his own words hit him. “Oh, wait. Andrew did you...,” he stopped again and worried his lip between his teeth as he thought some more. 

Finally, it seemed like he figured it out. “Did you think I had another person in here with me?”

Andrew gave him his best blank stare, which Neil interpreted correctly as a ‘yes dumbass’.

Suddenly Neil placed the kitten on the ground beside him and leaned forward until he was on his knees and leaning into Andrew’s space. He reached one hand out towards Andrew but stopped himself short of actually coming into contact with him, knowing that he might not be open to touch right then. He dropped his hand back to the ground to help balance himself instead. “Andrew no. I would never cheat on you. How could you even think that? You know I don’t swing for anyone except you.”

He paused after that and seemed to be waiting for Andrew to respond, which he did not. When Neil realized he wasn’t going to get a response he re-positioned himself back down though this time much closer, their knees were only about a centimeter apart now. Neil placed his hand on his own knee palm up in a clear invitation for Andrew to take if he chose. Then he looked up and gave Andrew that stupidly fond smile. “I only want you and I will only ever want you. Like I said it’s always yes with you Andrew.”

As much as he wished those words didn’t affect him so strongly he could already feel what was left of his anger and tension start to melt away. He continued staring for only a second more before sighing out, “460% Junkie.” Then placed his hand in Neils and twined their fingers together. 

Neil’s smile brightened as he squeezed Andrew’s fingers.

They were brought out of their staring by a soft meow. Neil immediately broke eye contact and looked down at the cat which was rubbing its head along his thigh. He used his free hand to pick it up and place the cat back into his lap. He petted its head for a few seconds longer before he looked back up at Andrew with a smirk. “Oh, by the way, I got a cat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is three official chapters with an extra text fic at the end.
> 
> Edited Jan. 19th, 2019


	2. Cats out of the bag

Andrew leaned heavily back against the wall and continued to stare at Neil, who was busy rubbing his fingers down the small body of the fluffy black kitten. He thought that maybe Neil was going to elaborate on his statement, but as the seconds ticked by he realized that Neil had nothing else to add. Andrew though needed more information. So he asked, “Why?”

Neil kept his eyes trained on the kitten and away from Andrew’s probing gaze. Though he did make a thoughtful humming noise to indicate that he had heard the question, but was still thinking about his answer. The kitten, intrigued by the noise, started to climb up the front of Neil’s sweatshirt to investigate.

Neil let out a small breathy laugh at the kitten’s antics before detaching it from his sweatshirt and placing it back down in his lap. He looked and met Andrew’s gaze. “I’m not really sure why. I kind of just did it.”

“You just did it,” Andrew repeated back to him unbelievingly. He knew that Neil was prone to making rash decisions sometimes, but those usually involved getting in fights with opposing players or pushy reporters. Or the one time he let Allison dye his hair a ridiculous color, but those were all slightly different from deciding he was going to adopt a pet.

Andrew wasn’t even sure Neil understood what all was involved in taking care of a cat. Neil wasn’t even that great at taking care of himself the way most functional humans can. Which wasn’t really his fault, since neither of his awful parents had taught him how to be a functional human.

Neil still hadn’t said anything so Andrew probed further, “Explain.”

Neil gave him a small shrug. It was obvious now that he was deflecting, so Andrew decided to give him some time to figure out what exactly he wanted to say. He sat back and watched Neil play with the kitten for a few minutes in silence, well almost silence since the cat was purring and meowing the whole time.

Neil finally looked up and met his gaze, but instead of saying anything he began to move. He settled himself against the wall beside Andrew with his legs stretched out in front of him. Neil’s close proximity keenly reminded Andrew of just how much he had missed his idiot, and how he wanted him even closer right then. In order to make that happen Andrew also stretched his legs out in hopes that Neil understood what he wanted, and of course he did. Neil scooched himself closer so that they were sitting completely pressed against one another.

Neil released a contended sign as his body relaxed into Andrew’s. Then he leaned over and gently nudged their heads together. “I missed you.”

Andrew turned towards him, placed two fingers under his chin, and used them to guide Neil’s face into a better position. “The feeling is not mutual,” Andrew told him before leaning in for a kiss.

The kiss was soft and slow. They hadn’t seen each other in more than a month and this felt like coming home.

Neil pulled back, but remained close. His face was alight in a mischievous yet happy grin. “Uh-huh. I totally believe you,” he said mocking Andrew’s own contrary behavior. He leaned back in and placed a quick kiss to Andrew’s lips, then pulled back again but this time resumed his original position leaning back against the wall. “You clearly didn’t miss me at all. That’s why you came for a surprise visit.”

Andrew scoffed at his accusation. “My game was fairly close and someone needed to come check on you. You have sounded weird lately.” Andrew added that last bit in a more serious tone. What Neil had sounded like lately was concerningly more and more dejected.

“So you were worried about me?” Neil asked still sounding smug.

Andrew put his hand on Neil’s face and turned it away. He didn’t want to have to look at his stupid grin anymore. “Your weak attempts at distracting me are not working. You are supposed to be telling me why you got this thing,” he reminded Neil while gesturing to the kitten which had moved on from sitting in Neil’s lap to rubbing itself all over his socked feet. Which, gross.

“Oh, right,” Neil said as he wiggled his toes around to the kittens obvious delight. He was still smiling fondly down at it, but his whole expression had turned pensive. “I really don’t know why I did it. It’s not like I had a plan or even really thought about wanting a pet ever before.” He paused then to reach down and pick up the kitten before resuming. “But two weeks ago I was on my morning run and when I reached my halfway time I looked up and found myself in front of an animal shelter. It made me think of all the pictures the foxes send of their pets to the group chat, and how they talk about all the funny and cute things they do.”

Ah yes, the fox group chat. A way for them all to continue constantly annoying each other even though they lived in different cities now. Or at least that’s how Andrew felt about it, Neil seemed to enjoy the daily updates about everybody’s lives. Which said updates did usually include an unreasonable amount of pictures of pets. Even Aaron occasionally sent pictures of his ugly pug Popo. Those pictures also usually include his wife, so Andrew pretended to not see them.

Neil continued, “Then it reminded me of a conversation I had with Matt and Dan about how it might be nice to come home to a pet instead of an empty apartment everyday.” Oh, so he was not the only one who had noticed Neil’s increasing loneliness. 

“The next thing I know I’m inside and this woman at the counter is asking me what kind of pet I was looking for. I told her I didn’t know. So she asked me a bunch of questions about my job, where I lived and other stuff. Then she recommended I get a cat.” Neil released a small huff of laughter. “The next thing I know I’m in a room surrounded by cats, and the woman is telling me to just sit there with them and see if any of them feel right to me.”

Neil actual laughed out loud then. “What does that even mean. This woman literally just left me alone in a room surrounded by like fifteen cats, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them.”

That was something Andrew could actually imagine happening. Neil letting himself get led into a room by an overly enthusiastic animal shelter employee, just to be left alone with a bunch of animals he probably had little to no experience with. He probably even had one of his silent life crises meltdowns.

“Anyways,” Neil continued. “I freaked out for a moment, but then decided to just do what she told me and sit there and watch them. A few of them were friendly and came up to me, but most didn’t.”

“What made you choose this one?” Andrew asked him.

“He was in a group with three of his other siblings. At first they were hiding, but after awhile they started playing.” Neil held the kitten up to his face. “This guy was the fastest. He kept running back and forth all over the room. Then he ran right into my lap and climbed up my shirt.”

“So you picked this one because your runner heart couldn’t resist another runner, or because it ruined your shirt?”

Neil laughed and jostled Andrew with his shoulder. “Better to have a runner’s heart than a pre-diabetic one like you, and he didn’t ruin my shirt.” Neil leaned down to rest his head against Andrew’s shoulder and drew his legs up closer to his chest. Causing the kitten to practically be cocooned in his lap. “I picked him because I just knew he was right for me.” 

Andrew didn’t respond to that, he wasn’t entirely sure he knew how too. Neil was staring down at the kitten in his lap with one of the softest expressions he had ever seen on him, and Andrew knew in that moment he would resign himself to living with however many cats Neil wanted in the future as long as they made him as happy as he was then.

They sat together in silence with Neil gently petting the kitten for a few moments before He softly added, “Kind of like how I know you're right for me.”

Andrew felt warmth bloom through his chest, and decided that he had all of Neil’s sentimentality he could handle for the day. He ducked his shoulder out from under Neil’s head and pushed himself up to stand. He watched as Neil just barely caught himself before falling over. The abrupt movement caused the kitten to dart out of Neil’s lap and under the bed. Neil scowled up at him. “Why did you do that?”

“It’s late, I’m tired, we’re going to bed now,” he answered before turning and walking back into the hall to retrieve his duffel bag.

Once he returned to the bedroom he saw that the kitten was now curled up on top of the bed, and Neil was in the bathroom brushing his teeth. Andrew stalked into the bathroom. “That is not sleeping in the bed with us,” he said as he pointed out towards the sleeping cat.

Neil finished brushing his teeth and looked at Andrew with a small pout. “But he always sleeps in the bed.”

“Not tonight Neil.” There was no way Andrew would be able to get any sleep if an energetic kitten was constantly running back and forth across their bed.

Neil continued to pout for a few more seconds before giving in. “Fine, he has a bed in the living room. I just hope he doesn’t get lonely out there all by himself.”

Andrew didn’t share Neil’s concern for the possibility of the cats loneliness, it was a cat. He watched silently as Neil left the bathroom and grabbed the kitten off the bed. Once Neil and the cat had left Andrew began to dig his toothbrush and sleeping clothes out of his bag. 

After finishing up in the bathroom he moved into the bedroom to find Neil already in bed and smiling earnestly at him. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Andrew asked which only caused Neil’s smile to brighten.

“I’m just really happy you’re here.”

“Shut up,” Andrew ordered as he crossed the room to flip the lights off.

Neil made an excited humming noise and said, “Why don’t you come over here and make me.”

Andrew climbed into the bed and proceeded to do just that.

They would eventually get some sleep that night.


	3. You have cat to be kitten me right meow

Andrew woke up the next morning to the sound of Neil’s phone alarm going off, “What time is it?”

“It’s eight,” Neil answers him as he silences his alarm then crawls out of bed. “I’m going to go for a short run. I’ll bring back coffee and donuts for you.”

Andrew is pretty sure he responded to Neil, or at least made some form of noise in acknowledgement before trying to fall back asleep. He listens as Neil gets ready in the bathroom, then makes his way out of the room. As soon as Andrew hears the front door close, he promptly falls back asleep.

He is woken up again, a much too short of time later for Neil to be done with his run, to the thump of something hitting the mattress. He eyes shoot open to see Neil’s damn cat staring back at him. Wondering how in the hell his cat managed to get inside the room Andrew looks over at the bedroom door to find it wide open. Either Neil forgot to close it, or the cat waited till now to show off his talent for opening doors. Which Andrew doubts.

Being too warm and comfortable in the bed to get up and remove the kitten from the room, Andrew swats out his arm in hopes of scaring it out. The kitten doesn’t even flinch, just walks to the end of the bed and curls up. Andrew really does not want to get up right now so he decides to let the cat be and try and get some more sleep before Neil gets back.

Although he doesn’t truly believe he will have any success, especially if the cat starts moving around. In his fifth year at Palmetto, when Neil and him shared a bed, he had become more accustomed to the slight movements of another person. Now that it has been a year and a half of him sleeping alone, besides the occasional visit from Neil, his body had become more alert to movement and sound again.

He is surprised when the next thing that wakes him up is the sound of the front door opening and Neil calling out, “Andrew, I’m back.” Andrew rolls over to check the time on his phone. It’s just after nine, which means that he slept for almost another hour. Confused as to how that happened, since he was sure the cat would wake him up, he looks down at the foot of the bed and finds that the kitten hasn’t moved at all.

Neil enters the room flushed from his run and holding a togo cup of coffee. “This is for you,” he tells Andrew and places it down on the nightstand. “The donuts are in the kitchen for when you actually get out of bed. I’m going to take a shower now.” He pauses in the doorway to the bathroom and looks back over his shoulder at Andrew and adds, “You’re welcome to join me if you want.”

Now that sounds like an appealing plan to Andrew. He knows that there is no point in trying to fall back asleep now, so he pulls the blankets off of him and gets out of bed. Neil who had been waiting on Andrew’s answer, beams at him like he just won some sort of prize.

“It’s just a shower,” Andrew tells him as they enter the bathroom. He decides to brush his teeth first, while Neil turns on the water and adjust it to a good temperature.

“Sure, just a shower,” Neil agrees in a teasing tone before he strips out of is sweaty running clothes and steps under the spray of water.

Andrew rolls his eyes at Neil, even though he won’t see him behind the closed curtain. Then strips out of his clothes and joins him.

After they are out of the shower, dried off, and dressed. Andrew grabs his coffee off the nightstand and joins Neil in the kitchen. He finds him sitting at his small table with a bagel sandwich and his own togo cup of coffee. Andrew searches the counter and spots his box of donuts. He makes his way over and lifts the lid to inspect them. Neil had gotten him a half dozen of the most heart clogging variety, which is just how Andrew likes them. They are covered in brightly colored icing, sprinkles, chocolate shavings, and one is topped with sugary cereal.

He grabs out of one the donuts and leans back against the counter. He had just taken a bite out of the it when he feels something attach itself to his pants, “What the fuck?” He looks down to find Neil’s damn cat climbing up his leg.

Neil looks up at Andrew’s outburst and notices the kitten, “Aww, he likes you.” He grabs his phone off the table and tells Andrew, “Don’t move I’m gonna take a picture.”

Andrew normally doesn’t tolerate Neil’s obsession with taking pictures of everything, but he looks so thrilled by the cats stunt that Andrew is willing to allow it this once. “You have two seconds, before I remove the fleabag,” Andrew tells him.

When he hears Neil’s phone make the fake lens shutter noise he reaches down and plucks the kitten off of his thigh. He drops it down to the ground and watches as it shoots over to where Neil is sitting and jump up into his lap. Andrew decides he doesn’t want to give the kitten another chance at trying to scale him again, so he grabs his coffee and the box of donuts and joins Neil at the table. 

Neil is too busy doing something on his phone to notice the kitten reaching out and trying to paw at his bagel. So Andrew reaches over and bats his paw away. The movement finally causes Neil to look up from his phone, he grabs the cat and puts it down on the floor, then looks back up at Andrew, “I sent the picture to the group chat.”

Andrew digs his own phone out of his pocket, and sure enough there is a picture of himself staring down at a black fluff ball, who is staring right back up at him. There is also quite a few messages from the other foxes already. Mostly they seem to be emojis and exclamations from Nicky. Knowing that the messages will probably continue like that for at least ten more minutes, he repockets his phone and grabs another donut.

They sit together for a while in comfortable silence, drinking their coffees and finishing their breakfast. While finishing his sandwich Neil has been responding to texts from the group chat. After a few more minutes Neil gets a contemplative look on his face and says, “They want to know what I named him.”

“So tell them,” Andrew tells him in a bored tone. He can’t understand why the name of his cat would cause Neil that kind of expression.

“I can’t because I haven’t named him yet,” Neil says. Which now that Andrew thinks about it Neil has only been referring to the cat as him. 

“Why haven’t you named him? I would think with your history you would be an expert on choosing names.” Andrew doesn’t understand why this question would cause Neil to suddenly look almost sheepish, but it does.

Neil looks away from Andrew’s eyes and down at the table before admitting, “I was worried about how you would react to me getting him.”

Well that explains his expression it also explains why he had apparently owned the cat for two weeks, and had yet to mention it. Though Andrew did not understand why his reaction to the cat seemed to be a cause of unease for Neil. So he asked, “Why would it matter how I reacted anyways, it’s your cat?”

Neil looks at him like he was being purposefully dense, “Because one day, preferably before the twenty years of a cats life span is over, we will live together again!”

Oh, of course that was why Neil was worried. Even though Andrew was signed on with the Denver Boulders for four more years, and Neil had just signed with the Rebels. Neil believed that one day, and hopefully soon, one of them would be traded to the others team. Andrew however knew that nothing in life was guaranteed. No matter how badly they wanted it, it was always a possibility that they would never play for the same team.

Therefore Andrew didn’t understand Neil’s worrying over his reaction to the cat. Them living together soon was not a guarantee, but Neil’s increasing loneliness was. So if the junkie thought that coming home to the cat was going to help him, Andrew had no objections. He tried convey all this in the simplest way, “And?”

“And?” Neil started to get that look in his eyes which preceded him starting a fight he usually couldn’t win. “And what?, Don’t you want to play for the same team again? Don’t you want to able to see each other everyday? How is all this distance not affecting you? I feel like I’m suffocating every time I come home. Being alone all the time fucking sucks.” Neil cuts off his own mini tirade with a deep breath then said in a much quieter tone, “Being without you here with me sucks.” 

Andrew sat and listened to Neil with a blank expression. All of this time apart did ‘suck’ as Neil had put it. Also Neil had really misunderstood what Andrew meant. “I meant, And why haven’t you named your cat yet?”

Neil stared at him for a few moments unblinking. Then finally exclaimed, “Wait, what? Are you sure?”

Andrew wasn’t sure if he would mind living with a pet or not. He had never really considered himself a pet person before. At least Neil choose a cat, since it seemed like cats would be fairly simple to live with. However Andrew was sure that if it meant that much to Neil, that he would try. So he told him, “Yes, I’m sure.”

Neil Beamed. 

He picked up his phone and started typing out a text and talking to Andrew at the same time, “I have picked a lot of names for myself, but there were all supposed to be temporary. I’ve never had to choose a name for something that it will keep for its whole life before. I’m worried I’ll mess it up, so I’m going to ask the foxes for some ideas.”

Andrew could only imagine that ending badly, but just shrugged in response. He picked out another donut and ate it while Neil continued to text the foxes. Andrew would like to point out that it only took about one minute before Neil’s expression started growing increasingly more worried.

After a few more minutes of answering texts Neil put his phone down and looked over at the cat. He stared at it for a long moment before he shrugged and turned to look at Andrew.

Andrew lifted his eyebrow in a silent question.

“Nicky suggested quite a few names, and everyone else voted on them,” Neil said.

“And?” Andrew asked, “What completely non-ridiculous name did they choose?”

“King Fluffkins.”

-

Later that night as they are sitting together on the sofa watching some horrible Exy/drama/romance movie Neil picked, Andrew looks over at the cat lounged out beside him. King Fluffkins is a truly ridiculous name; but the cat is really fluffy, and it amuses Andrew that in an antiquated gender hierarchy the cat would rank higher than Kevin. Just before he turns his attention back to the awful movie the cat’s tail flicks up and Andrew notices something. Or really lack of somethings.

“Did they neuter your cat before you brought it home?” Andrew ask Neil.

Neil pauses the movie and appears to be thinking about the question. “Hmm, no. I’m pretty sure they told me I would have to bring him back in to get spayed once he is a little older.”

Well that cleared something up for Andrew. He stares at Neil for a moment and wonders not for the first time how he manages to live by himself, with his complete lack of common knowledge. He looks back down at the kitten and feels a spark of amusement at the irony of its name now.

He turns back to Neil and tells him, “King Fluffkins is a girl cat.”


	4. I've got a bad feline about this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the extra text fic where the Foxes choose King Fluffkins name.

Neil:  
(Image Sent; 9:42 A.M.)  
I got a cat

Nicky:  
OOOOOMMMMMGGGGG That is the most adorable thing I have ever seen!!!!!!!!!

Matt:  
Oh My Gosh Neil it’s so tiny!  
I can’t wait till we visit! I wanna play with it soooo bad!!!

Dan:  
That’s freaking awesome! 

Nicky:  
It’s so fluffy!!! I’m gonna die!!!

Renee:  
It’s adorable Neil, I’m so happy for you!

Allison:  
Super Cute!!!  
Wait hold up! Is it climbing The Monster?

Neil:  
Yeah, Andrew came in for a surprise visit.

Nicky:  
WHAT???? I was so focused on the tiny fluffy kitty. I didn't even notice Andrew!!!!!!!!  
A tiny kitten on a tiny angry Exy goalie!!!!!!!

Matt:  
Is it weird that I find it oddly reassuring that he doesn't hold his death glare back on anything, even a tiny kitten?

Allison:  
No it would totally freak me out if he was smiling at it.

Dan:  
Agreed

Nicky:  
Agreed

Aaron:  
Agreed

Renee:  
I think the picture is sweet!

Neil:  
Thanks Renee

Matt:  
So what did you name it?

Nicky:  
NNNEEEIIILLL  
Please don't say you named it something stupid!

Dan:  
Come on it’s Neil he probably named his cat Exy! LMAO!!!!!

Allison:  
$50 says he definitely named it something Exy related.

Matt:  
I’ll take that bet.  
He Isn’t as bad as Kevin, I bet he gave it a nice name.

Kevin:  
I don’t know what you mean by that. There are plenty of suitable names for a pet that are Exy related.  
Thea and I are thinking about getting a dog and we want to name it after one of the players on the first court team.

Allison:  
GAWD you two are both soooooo lame Kevin

Dan:  
Yeah, I love Exy too. But come on branch out a little.

Nicky:  
Neil?  
Hello?  
R U still with us?

Aaron:  
$50 says he didn't charge his phone.

Allison:  
Nobody is going to take you up on that bet.

Neil:  
I actually haven’t named him yet.

Nicky:  
WHAT???  
I’ve already thought of ten great names for him.

Matt:  
How long have you had him?

Neil:  
Two weeks.

Nicky:  
WTF????????????  
You haven’t named that precious baby for two weeks?

Dan:  
What have you been calling him this whole time?

Neil:  
I don’t really call him anything.  
But sometimes I just use cat or boy.

Nicky:  
I’m literally crying for your cat right now.

Allison:  
Does that mean I lose the bet?

Matt:  
Yes it does!!!!!

Renee:  
Why haven’t you named him yet?

Neil:  
Umm,  
I just wasn’t sure what a good name would be.

Nicky:  
WAIT!!!!!  
Does that mean we can help you name him?

Matt:  
Please say yes!!!!

Neil:  
Yeah 

Dan:  
Smokey

Allison:  
Shadow

Matt:  
Panther

Nicky:  
Sylvester

Renee:  
Muffin

Kevin:  
Rae Stimmons was the first striker chosen for court that came from the Boston Rebels.  
You should name your cat in honor of him.

Nicky:  
Boo Kevin, you just forfeited your naming rights.  
Neil you have to name him something good like Sir Meower the Ruthless.

Matt:  
Leo

Dan:  
Midnight

Nicky:  
The Great Mouseketeer

Allison:  
Neil Jr.  
Lol!!!!  
JK

Renee:  
Pepper

Nicky:  
King Fluffkins

Allison:  
OMG!!!!!!!

Matt:  
Guys, that’s perfect!

Dan:  
YES, that’s the one!!!!!!!!

Neil:  
Really?

Renee:  
I agree too. It’s a super cute name and your cat is so fluffy!

Aaron:  
Also that means your cat would outrank Kevin.

Kevin:  
Whatever.  
Rae Stimmons would be a better name.

Nicky:  
Okay, so everyone decided.  
Neil your cat is officially named King Fluffkins  
Congrats!!!!!!

Neil:  
What the hell, Okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am officially done with this fic.
> 
> I really wanted to add emojis, and like gifs. But I am using Google Docs and just not that technologically advanced.
> 
> Also I tried to make it so Neil's text were all right aligned, but I guess you can't do that on AO3.  
> If Anyone knows how to, or how to add pictures or anything message me. 
> 
> Hope everyone enjoys this little extra, I wrote it in one sitting. It's just kinda for fun <3

**Author's Note:**

> OMG, I finally added the last part. This fic goes from fake angst to domestic fluff real fast lol!  
> Thanks everyone for reading, leaving kudos, and writing comments! I love you all <3
> 
> I am actually thinking about adding a lil extra to the end of the text convo between the foxes, just because I think it will be fun.
> 
> Also I saw a lot of people head canon that King is actually a girl, and I just had to add it. I know that they tell you the sex of the cat when you are at the shelter, but I just imagine that Neil was having one of his crises inner monologue moments and completely missed about half the shit they told him.
> 
> If you have any questions or just want to talk about AFTG my Tumblr is here: https://blogaboutyafavbirdboys.tumblr.com/  
> I also made a snapchat series that kinda goes with this fic, so check it out: https://blogaboutyafavbirdboys.tumblr.com/post/173298716786/all-for-the-game-snapchat-series-domestic


End file.
